By Tamara Knyazeva
Tamara Knyazeva is a senior student at the American University in Bulgaria, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations in May 2022.
After Alexey Navalny’s imprisonment last February, the EU leaders requested his immediate release due to the violation of his rights. Now, almost a year later, the buzz around Navalny’s detention seems to quiet down. The topic does not appear to be on the agenda of the EU leaders anymore, and the mild sanctions imposed on several Russian individuals had barely any impact. Although the European Parliament has awarded Navalny the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in October 2021, the Russian opposition leader remains in prison. Since the EU actions did not affect Navalny’s mistrial, his case demonstrates how the EU failed in its commitment to protecting human rights worldwide.
Background | Navalny’s Poisoning and Arrest
In an attempt to silence the greatest challenger to his rule, Russian President Vladimir Putin imprisoned Alexey Navalny on embezzlement charges. The Russian authorities detained the opposition leader upon his return to Moscow after recovering in Germany from a Soviet-era Novichok nerve-agent poisoning. The ruling of Moscow’s court was primarily political, and the mistrial ordered Navalny to serve a two-and-a-half years prison term for violating terms of parole [Amnesty International, 2021a].
After Navalny’s unlawful arrest, thousands of his supporters demonstrated peacefully across Russia, demanding his release. The protests further aggravated the human rights crisis in the country. The Russian authorities detained almost two thousand demonstrators, who exercised their freedom of expression and assembly to support the Kremlin’s critic. Not only did the authorities arrest thousands for the “violation of COVID-19 restrictions,” but they also did detain several members of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation [Amnesty International, 2021b].
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Before assessing the EU response to human rights violations in Russia, let us recall the numbers first. One opposition leader was almost murdered and then incarcerated in a correctional colony. About two thousand of his supporters ended up under arrest. And only four Russian officials were sanctioned by the EU.
Does this response from the EU sound proportional vis-à-vis Putin’s attempt to murder his opponent and unlawful arrest of thousands of civilians? In my opinion, sanctioning four individuals is a rather weak reaction from the power that claims to promote and protect human rights worldwide.
This controversial choice to impose such mild sanctions comes from the sharp divisions between the EU member states. Some countries, such as Poland, advocated for tough and wide-ranged sanctions [VOA, 2021]. Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian foreign ministries also tweeted that “The European Union should react quickly if he [Navalny] is not released, then it should consider imposing sanctions against [Russia],” [Edgars Rinkēvičs, 2021]. However, Poland and the Baltic countries faced opposition from the most powerful economy in the EU with a more cautious stance on sanctioning Russia.
Unlike Poland and the Baltics, Germany was more skeptical about the tough sanction regime against Russia. Although German Chancellor Angela Merkel was one of the first EU officials to call for the release of Navalny, she did not insist on adding new names on the list for sanctioning [The Moscow Times, 2021]. Moreover, the chancellor stood firm on the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline, backed by the German political establishment. The pipeline links Germany to Russia, making the EU more energy-dependent on the Russian Gazprom [Financial Times, 2020]. Instead of stopping the work on Nord Stream 2, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stated that the EU needs to “keep up a constructive dialogue with Russia” [VOA, 2021].
Despite the ambitious statements of the EU officials condemning Navalny’s arrest, the EU imposed sanctions only against four Russian officials involved in imprisoning the opposition leader. Although the EU foreign ministries agreed on mild sanctions, the final decision was rather symbolic and ineffective. Instead of raising costs for systematic breaches of human rights for Putin, the EU has strengthened the Russian president’s posture by supporting the Nord Stream 2 and imposing only mild sanctions.
An Alternative Response
There could have been an alternative firmer way for the EU to respond to Navalny’s imprisonment – the European Parliament has called upon the member states in January to tighten the sanctions regime against Russia. The Parliament stated in the press release that “Russian wealth of unclear origin should not be welcome in the EU,” and “work to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline must be stopped immediately” [European Parliament, 2021].
If the EU aims to change Kremlin’s behavior, the sanctions had to target more the highest-ranking officials and oligarchs, including the sectors which generate income for Putin’s authoritative regime. Before his imprisonment, Navalny’s top lieutenants even compiled a list of 35 individuals close to Putin [VOA, 2021]. Navalny’s team insisted on targeting the Russian businessmen and high-ranking officers from FSB with EU entry bans and asset freezes. Sanctioning Putin’s oligarch friends who provide him with wealth could have pushed the Russian president to move somewhat. However, the EU abstained from sanctioning the highest-ranking officials and ignored the Parliamentary position, which wanted to stop the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
With such an incoherent and weak response to Navalny’s imprisonment, the EU failed in raising the costs of the systematic breaches of human rights and the rule of law in Russia. The EU, which perceives itself as a “normative power” and human rights protector, adopted a position that would favor economically powerful member states in the first place instead of promoting HR abroad. Therefore, the EU response to Navalny’s case questioned its commitment to protecting human rights worldwide.
References
Amnesty International [2021a]. “Russia: Aleksei Navalny becomes a prisoner of conscience after arrest on arrival in Moscow.” https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2021/01/russia-aleksei-navalny-becomes-prisoner-of-conscience-after-arrest-on-arrival-in-moscow/
Amnesty International [2021b]. “Russia: Human rights crisis deepens as Navalny supporters arrested en masse.” https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2021/04/russia-human-rights-crisis-deepens-as-navalny-supporters-arrested-en-masse/
Edgars Rinkēvičs [2021]. https://twitter.com/edgarsrinkevics/status/1350878130513321987
European Parliament [2021]. “Parliament demands significantly tighter EU sanctions against Russia.” https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20210119IPR95904/parliament-demands-significantly-tighter-eu-sanctions-against-russia
Financial Times [2020]. “Angela Merkel stands firm on Nord Stream 2 despite Navalny poisoning.” https://www.ft.com/content/a26cacdf-7238-4417-b0b7-696eeeeb239c
The Moscow Times [2021]. “Free Navalny, Western Leaders Tell Russia.” https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/01/18/free-navalny-western-leaders-tell-russia-a72637
Voice of America (VOA) [2021]. “Navalny Supporters: EU Sanctions on Russia Are Too Weak.” https://www.voanews.com/a/europe_navalny-supporters-eu-sanctions-russia-are-too-weak/6202450.html